Equestria Girls: Friendship Souls

by thatguyvex

Episode 69: Heart to Heart

Episode 69: Heart to Heart

Adagio’s mind immediately switched to high-gear, threading through dozens of possible reactions and plans in the span of a second. She considered and discarded the possibility of launching an instant, full powered attack in the hopes it might catch Chrysalis off guard and allow Adagio to either finish her off or escape. First of all Adagio didn’t doubt Chrysalis would be prepared for such an attack, and even if she wasn’t and by some very narrow trick of chance such an attack would work it’d leave Adagio in an awkward position no matter whether it resulted in Chrysalis being killed or being wounded enough to allow Adagio to escape. With the former Adagio would be catapulted to a rough position in Arrancar society that she didn’t have the power yet to survive, in the later scenario Adagio would have to flee Las Noches and go into hiding, which was not an appealing prospect.

So fighting was right out, unless Chrysalis initiated, in which case Adagio didn’t make much of her chances, but in that event she’d use all of her power to try to create an opening that’d allow her to form a Garganta and escape to the human world. Not ideal, but neither was fighting Chrysalis.

Fortunately it didn’t seem Chrysalis was here to kill Adagio. At least not immediately, otherwise she’d have already struck. Unless Chrysalis liked toying with her prey, which seemed likely, but Adagio saw little choice but to put on her most welcoming smile and play this cool.

“I was expecting you, but not quite this soon. Shall I send one of my boys to fetch us something to eat? Perhaps you’d like some refreshment? They managed to secure a working refrigerator from the human realm and have it stocked with an assortment of drinks.”

She knew there was no way Chrysalis wouldn’t see through the false courtesy, but she’d be damned if she was about to cower either. If Chrysalis wanted to walk into Adagio’s home and start throwing her weight around then Adagio was going to met it head on with every scrap of charm and dignity she could muster.

In response Chrysalis swept past Adagio into the room with the slick grace of a panther, a laugh on her lips that stuck in Adagio’s ears like honey. “Oh, I made sure to feed before I came over. I do so hate to talk shop on an empty stomach. Hmm, I do like what you’ve done with the place.”

The Second Espada all but stalked her way across Adagio’s room, her slim black fingers caressing the furniture, lightly brushing aside the dark violet drapes from the window, not even glancing back at Adagio. It was like a cat marking a room as hers, and the woman’s posture was flush with restrained amusement hiding a deeper edge of menace that Adagio felt like a knife on her throat.

“I thought it could do with some sprucing up. Grogar wasn’t the most accommodating host, and as much as I enjoy some of the company among Torch’s horde I had no intention of sleeping among them.”

Chrysalis slipped around Adagio’s bed and playfully sat on its edge, arms braced behind her and legs crossed before her as she looked at Adagio with coy but hard eyes. “So you decided to take up residence in chambers once owned by my former rival, and what... expected me not to take issue with it?”

The onyx beauty examined her fingernails and cast a sidelong look of piercing daggers at Adagio, “Why should I not do to you what I did to the Queen of Thorns? Just to make sure all Las Noches gets the message that those who displease me will drown in their own screams before I’m through with them?”

At least she wasn’t beating around the bush. Adagio’s heart was pounding away rapidly in her chest, but outwardly she forced herself to maintain her calm, courteous look, and even a bit of feigned surprise as she held one arm out in a questioning gesture. “I’m quite curious as to why my claiming these empty chambers should matter to you at all, Lady Chrysalis.”

The use of the title was a calculated risk. While many seemed to speak of Chrysalis in terms that put her on near equal standing to Lord Tirek, the term ‘Queen’ wasn’t one she’d heard used any more than the word ‘King’ was much used where Tirek was concerned. As such calling her ‘Queen Chrysalis’ might appear too much like sucking up, while ‘Lady Chrysalis’ still denoted some respect without overdoing it.

It seemed to at least partially work as Chrysalis leaned forward with interest, “Others have avoided these dusty halls for so long because when I removed the Queen of Thorns from her lofty position, I didn’t merely defeat her. I destroyed her. Not in the mundane, traditional sense. No. I broke her from the ground up, starting with those that chose to follow her. One by one I tore open her followers, eroding her spirit before we so much as exchanged the first blow. I butchered those close to her, until only her inner circle remained, and when she tried to send them away for their protection I hunted them down anyway and sent her their bodies in pieces. Then, when she could endure no more, when the time came for us to fight openly, only then did I indulge in breaking her physically. By the time it was done there wasn’t a soul in Las Noches who didn’t hear her screams, and when they finally stopped... I never told one person what happened to the Queen of Thorns, but there was certainly no body to be found. I still laugh at the stories I hear, sometimes, from those musing over what I did to her. That perhaps I devoured her whole. Or kept her alive somewhere as a personal plaything for eternity. Only I know the truth, but the point is this; people stay away from here out of fear. Fear of me. And because of that fear I command more respect and power here than anyone besides Tirek, and even then some people wonder who truly rules Las Noches.”

She paused then, as if to let it all sink in for Adagio, before saying with an arctic frozen tone, “So tell me again why I should allow you to challenge that by shacking up here, exactly?”

Given the next words out of her mouth would likely decide her fate Adagio thought she’d be more nervous, but she’d just recently dealt with Lament. She was becoming rapidly experienced in the art of diplomatically handling psychopaths who could kill her out of hand. Part of the key seemed to be maintaining initiative in the conversation, so Adagio didn’t even pause long before answering in cool, collected words.

“Challenge? Hardly. If anything my being here is doing you an incredible favor, Lady Chrysalis.”

An amused eyebrow shot up Chrysalis’ brow, “Oh? Do tell.”

Adagio spread her arms out around the room, turning as if to encompass it before facing Chrysalis again, “Why should you, with all of your great power, all the respect you just said you command, allow the shadow of the Queen of Thorns hang over these chambers? She is gone. Dead, or a suffering slave in some dungeon of yours, what does she matter now? By keeping these rooms empty her shadow remained, but with me here even the name ‘Queen of Thorns’ will soon be forgotten. As it should be, is it not? Why let the past linger? Let it die, I say. If others talk as if my presence here is a challenge to you, that misconception is easily corrected. After all I intend to secure myself here, and I can hardly do that while opposing those so far above me, so instead of my being her being seen as a challenge instead consider it a declaration of support. Erasing the last remaining figment of your old enemy, and replacing it with new blood that supports your own power base.”

“Aaaaah, and in exchange for me not eviscerating you and parading your corpse around for all to see as a warning, instead the idea is that I parade you around as... a protege, is that it?” Chrysalis queried, giving no hint on her face whether she liked or detested the notion, but since she hadn’t torn Adagio’s head of yet the siren figured she had nothing to lose by running down this rabbit hole.

“Protege, ally, or just a curiosity to be tolerated and amused by,” she said in a breezy tone, “Spin it however you like. However most benefits you. What I’m saying is that there’s no reason to view my being here as a threat to your authority, because ultimately the Queen of Thorns is gone, buried, and by allowing her shadow to hang over this place for so long I dare say you’ve done yourself no favors. Let me erase that shadow for you, and why wouldn’t I openly support you? I have my own goals, I won’t deny that, but as long as they don’t run counter to yours I see no reason for us to be enemies.”

Chrysalis let out a giggling laugh that sent ice cold shivers down Adagio’s spine like someone was running oil down it. Chrysalis stood to her full height, which Adagio couldn’t help but notice rose a good half a foot taller than her. Even the small steps she took forward towards Adagio dripped with equal amounts of sensual promise and utterly deadly radiance. In some back part of Adagio’s mind she felt a stab of jealousy. It was irrational, she knew, but a part of her wished she had her human body back, if only to show Chrysalis she wasn’t the only one who could turn movement into a seductive weapon. Such petty rivalry wouldn’t serve her purposes at all, but it was hard to be in this woman’s presence and not feel a competitive desire well up in her.

Chrysalis was an undisputed alpha female, and Adagio’s own inner alpha was struggling to get out past her diplomatic common sense.

When Chrysalis got close she leaned in so she was not only looming over Adagio, but was nearly touching noses with the siren.

“Enemies? The only way you could be my enemy is if you had the power to threaten me. You don’t. Not yet in any case, and mmmm that yet is such a delicious word, isn’t it?”

Adagio went stock still as Chrysalis’ hand rose and ran those smooth, silken fingers across the side of Adagio’s Hollow mask. Those fingers were surprisingly warm, Adagio noted, even as she stared into Chrysalis’ cold and fathomless eyes.

“You’ve hardly led a charmed life, have you? I can all but taste the frustration, anger, despair, and ambition coursing through you. A woman like you is always gasping for more of what she wants, and when she gets it, she just keeps going. I should know, I’m the same way. And what a unique and swift rise to this precarious position you’ve found yourself in. Born out the gate as an Adjuchas, surviving Grogar’s experimental attentions. Then making swift allies with Torch’s whelp, a smart move. Seeking to evolve yourself forcefully in the Forest of Gillians was a bold course, made bolder still by the allies gained there alongside this fresh new coat of Vasto Lorde paint. Now you’re claiming a slice of territory to call home, and have even made a splash by being one of the few to have a ‘friendly chat’ with the Fourth Espada and live.”

Chrysalis laughed again and patted Adagio on the head, “No wonder my Thorax is so enamored with you.”

It was one part vehement distaste for being treated like an inferior, one part reaction to her personal space getting invaded, and one part calculated risk that Chrysalis would be more impressed than offended, but Adagio pushed Chrysalis’ patting hand aside. Not harshly, but enough to make it clear she wasn’t keen on being treated as a child.

“Thorax’s interest is flattering, but he’s not why you’re here. I’d appreciate it if there is a point to this visit that we get to it, Lady Chrysalis. If you intend to kill me over some perceived slight, I’d like to get that bit of unpleasantness over with sometime before lunch. If you’re not going to kill me, then please spare us both the verbal sparring and tell me what it is you do want from me?”

“A sharp tongue to go with a sharp mind,” Chrysalis said musingly, her smile thin but genuine, “Yes, you’ll do nicely. As you say, I could kill you. It’d serve to reinforce the fear the lower ranked already have of me, but it’d do little to affect things with my... let’s be generous and call them ‘peers’. On the other hand you’re in a rarely unique position in Las Noches’ turbulent society. Not an Espada, but powerful enough to be a either a painful thorn in one’s side, or a useful tool to another.”

“And if I was the former, I’d already be dead, yes?”

Chrysalis tapped a finger to her nose.

“So what is it you want, exactly?” Adagio asked in a flat tone, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Nothing I imagine will be outside your disposition, talents, or ambitions,” Chrysalis replied with a devil’s smile, “In fact you may even enjoy what I have in mind.”

----------

It was a staircase, yet its sheer size and grandeur left Twilight Sparkle halting in her steps for a moment as she reached its threshold.

“No gawking, rookies! Keep in formation!” shouted the masked soldat, his stark white greatcoat contrasting sharply with the dark stone and flickering cobalt light from reishi torches flickering along the tall walls. His goggled mask and beret bearing the five pointed cross of the Vandenrich covered his features and made him look imposing, but Twilight suspected the soldat was a nervous as the cadets he was herding along. From the two sword patch on the lapel of his coat he was a second-class soldat, essentially a squad leader. Twilight had done a quick cram session on Quincy ranks and tactical structure in between working on the Hexenfaust, so she was at least somewhat familiar with who was what.

Aside from Sombra’s elite Sternritter the rest of the Quincy army consisted of either cadets like Twilight and her newly growing group of friends, or soldats, who were full fledged soldiers but not commanders or elite warriors like the Sternritter. Soldats came in three ranks, third to first. The third-class soldats were the rank and file warriors, and were organized in squads of ten. Each squad was led by a second-class soldat, a more capable combatant but mainly a tactical leader. Squads then were grouped into companies of one hundred and twenty soldiers, commanded by a first-class soldat who was often trained not only in superior battlefield tactics, but also using more advanced Quincy weapons and alchemy.

Beyond that, companies formed battalions, usually between six to ten companies strong. First-class soldats still ran battalions, but a battalion commander’s rank insignia had a black enameled edge to denote their command over a larger unit over their company leading brethren. Of course a Sternritter could also be assigned battalion command, like in the case of her father. Night Light was well known for leading the Hueco Mundo expeditionary battalion of soldats who were responsible for all reconnaissance and first response operations in Hueco Mundo itself.

He was also the primary war leader for this current operation, just under Sombra himself.

All the surviving cadets were grouped like their own company, separated in squads and given a second-class soldat for each squad to oversee them along with the three Sternritter’s set to guard them. As a whole unit the cadets marched, their company moving along with others down the vast stone steps that were situated deep within the halls of the Silburn. The pounding echo of marching boots filled the cavernous staircase, reverberating through the very stones. Before and behind Twilight was a sea of bobbing white forms, and Twilight felt an uneasy sense of being blended into a seamless river of bleach, as if her identity was being left behind on this slow flowing stream of identically uniformed bodies.

She could look to her left and right to see her companions were nervous as well. Sunny Flare’s eyes darted about as she kept smoothing her own uniform as they moved. Lemon Zest, usually so laid back, had hardly blinked since they’d mustered together to march, kept licking her lips. Fists clenched like she was afraid to let go of something Indigo Zap had a slightly pale cast to her features. Twilight was fairly certain the faint grinding sound she was hearing was Sour Sweet’s teeth, although the girl’s jaw was locked tight as she marched right behind Twilight. Then there was Sugarcoat directly ahead of Twilight in the marching formation, and while Twilight couldn't see her friend’s face, she could see how stiffly Sugarcoat walked. Nobody was eager or joking. They all knew where they were going and what was coming.

The stairs were wide enough to accommodate thirty people walking side by side with shoulder room to spare. Towering marble pillars kissed a vaulted ceiling that rose high enough that giants could march down the stairs if need be. Twilight’s eyes caught the gleam of metal veins in the ceiling and higher portions of the wall, which if she hadn’t missed her guess were for conducting reishi particles. Something below them was consuming a great deal of spiritual power, being filtered in from above.

“How much deeper does this thing go?” muttered Sour Sweet after they’d been marching down the staircase’s broad steps for nearly five minutes.

“Like any of us would know,” grunted Indigo Zap, but Twilight was quick to interject.

“Given the angle of the slope, the comparative length and depth of each step, combined with the fact that we’ve covered approximately two hundred of them thus far I’d estimate we’re about ten stories underground.”

“Hey! I said keep it down!” barked the soldat watching over their squad and the girls went silent.

Fortunately it seemed Sour Sweet’s question carried a faintly prophetic quality, for just moments later the stairs ended in a large, wide landing that then abruptly terminated in a vast chasm of darkness. Twilight sensed immediately this chasm wasn’t natural, that she wasn’t just looking at some huge underground fissure but rather something unnatural. Spreading across that darkness was a shining bridge of incandescent blue light. The metallic veins that Twilight had seen in the ceiling now crawled down the walls in thicker portions, ending at the edge of the chasm where the reish fed through them formed the bridge of reishi particles that the Quincy could march across. But what was this chasm?

After a moment Twilight realized she’d felt something similar to it before, during the invasion of Canterlot City by the Hollows. When the realized clicked she gasped slightly.

It’s a Garganta! This whole, huge chasm is one gigantic Garganta! But that doesn’t make sense. Only Hollows can create Garganta portals, so how-

Her thoughts were cut off as her squad reached the bridge of light, and she looked to her left and right. Here the physical stone of the landing extended outward like a half circle, granting just enough space to either side of the chasm that one could walk along it a good fifty or so feet.

And mounted on either side of the wall were the towering forms of two Gillian-class Hollows.

Twilight did gasp then, in equal parts surprise and horror, and she wasn’t the only one of her fellow cadets to do so.

“Holy crap!” Indigo Zap almost summoned her bow.

“The heck are those things doing here!?” came a cry further back, sounding like Suri Polomare.

“Ease it down, cadets,” called the soldat, “They’re just husks. Completely harmless. Keep marching.”

Despite his words Twilight could see the two Gillians were more than mere husks, though the word wasn’t far off either. They lacked the huge, voluminous dark cloth that covered other Gillians, revealing emaciated and pale white naked bodies beneath that lacked sex or any defining features besides a horribly skeletal rib-cage and spindly limbs that seemed to just loosely hang off their bones. Each Hollow was nailed to the wall by massive silver spikes the size of buses, each spike capped with a five pointed Quincy Cross. Beyond that, however, Twilight saw cables and tubes flowing from the walls and injected into the Gillians, including connections to a circlet that surrounded each Gillians’ brow like a crown.

A control device? I sense reishi and alchemic fluid being pumped into them. Those Gillians are still alive, but in some manner of hibernation. Yet the power to create this Garganta is coming from them.

By now it was clear to Twilight that these two Hollows were being used to create this portal to Hueco Mundo they were now to march across. She’d always assumed the Quincy had portals of their own, some specific method of making their own interdimensional crossings. It’d never once occurred to her to ask how the Quincy actually got to Hueco Mundo to wage war on the Hollows.

Now she wished she didn’t know. While the Hollows were the enemy, and she’d seen them do horrific things... this didn’t seem right to her at all. The mere sight of these two poor creatures, imprisoned and enslaved to the Quincy’s ends, left her feeling chilled inside.

Yet the cold practicality of it somehow fit the Quincy mold, too. Use their enemy’s power against them.

Still, this is horrible. There has to be a better way to get to and from Hueco Mundo than this! And if there isn’t... she glanced at her left hand where the Hexenfaust covered her limb, and she clenched it into a fist, Then I’ll make one.

Leaving the unsettling sight of the Gillians behind Twilight and her squad found themselves marching along the wide, opaque bridge of light which crossed the seemingly infinite void of blackness surrounding them. Yet for all its seeming endlessness the void abruptly came to a close at the sight of a bright opening ahead. Twilight gulped, not at all sure what to expect when she marched out the other end.

The first thing that struck her was the cold. The air beyond the portal wasn’t freezing, but it was devoid of anything one could call warmth, clinging to her skin with a dull, dry chill. Indeed the air had a dead quality to it that went beyond merely sterile. Some instinctive, gut part of Twilight told her this was a place life was not meant to be. This was a place for the dead, not the living.

Above her hung a sky so featureless and black that she was almost convinced they hadn’t left the Garganta, but a glance over her shoulder showed a tall, naked metal wall where the yawning mouth-like portal still stood as more Quincy soldats marched out behind her and her fellow cadets. That wall was merely the first layer of what was a soaring, multi-tiered tower fortress of shear metal. It gleamed with pale silver light, but besides that it shared not qualities at all with the Silburn in the human world. Where that Silburn was a castle out of some child’s fable, this place looked like a fortress plucked straight from the pages of science fiction.

She counted at least three tiers of higher walls, built inward towards the central tower, the structures lacking windows but possessing multiple mechanical turrets bearing the sleek barrels of some manner of cannon, or the box shaped configurations of missile launchers. There were the thin metal webs of catwalks crossing along parts of the wall, often bearing the occasional sentry walking patrol. The main tower itself rose up in a silver blade, cutting into the dark sky. With a five sided base, it reminded Twilight of some alien obelisk, its roof splitting into three separate towers linked by glittering sky bridges. She could barely make out clusters of antenna and dishes at the top of these towers, no doubt some manner of detection and communication system.

The Garganta had opened up into an expansive tarmac that spanned multiple football fields of length and width. A huge exterior wall extended around this area, fifty feet tall and lined with more sentry turrets. Within the walls were dozens of smaller buildings, usually no more than one or two stories tall, all forged of simple metal and concrete and clearly of utilitarian, military design. Most notable of all was the large set of metal doors built into the ground, at least two dozen of them, all arranged in neat rows in the far right corner of this fortress courtyard.

Even as Twilight looked upon these, wondering what they were, she saw several open up, signal lights blaring red around the edges, and elevators rose from the depths. Upon these lifts were gleaming, sleek craft. Twilight had seen military helicopters before in pictures, but these machines bore only the vaguest resemblance. V-shaped tilt wings bore powerful looking turbine engines, and the narrow nose of the crafts had bubble-shaped dual cockpits and an unusually shaped weapon mounted under the chin that looked more like a silver arbalest than any kind of firearm. Small cylindrical missile pods were mounted close to either side of the forward fuselage, four in total. Upon the slightly curved backs of the vehicles a small version of the fortress gun turrets was mounted. The main body of the crafts was wide and almost diamond shaped, leading to a stabilizing tail bearing both an additional set of smaller turbine engines, and the Quincy cross symbol emblazoned upon the tail fin. A boarding ramp could be seen beneath the tail, leading into the main body, indicating the vehicle's purpose as a troop carrier.

Even as Twilight and her companions were marched forward she could see more lifts opening and bringing up similar vehicles, but there was a deeper, grinding sound to her left and she turned, eyes widening further as she gulped.

In that direction another section of the ground had opened up, like someone had raised a portion of the tarmac to reveal a large underground bay. From inside the whine of deep engines and rumble of treads could be heard, and one by one what could only be described as futuristic tanks began to roll out.

Each one was formed of bright metal, shaped into low riding, sharp angled forms that ended in bladed wedges at the front. The main barrel of the tanks extended out in a strange, hexagon shape, and Twilight didn’t think the barrel was wide enough for a conventional shell. An electromagnetic rail gun, perhaps? No, as she stretched out her spiritual senses, she realized these tanks, the gunships, even the fortress itself were all largely formed from reishi particles. The weaponry here was spiritual in nature, not conventional. Those tanks probably fired reishi projectiles similar to a Quincy arrow, and she didn’t doubt the missiles on the gunships or on the fortress turrets fired similar ordinance.

This was all part of an army forged to wage war on Hollows and Soul Reapers, and clearly the Quincy were taking advantage of every piece of human technology they could while doing it.

The fortress was already a beating hive of activity even before Twilight’s squad, along with so many others, were brought to a halt in the central tarmac area. It was hard to get a grasp on how many Quincy were present. Hundreds. Possibly thousands. Was this the whole Quincy military force mustering here? Twilight took a deep breath and tried to steady herself and quiet her thoughts. It wasn’t long before a soldat approached their formation, bearing the insignia of a first-class soldat.

She had a feminine form just barely bulging through the thick cloth of her greatcoat, and as she paused in front of the lined up cadets she pulled down her cloth mask and put up her goggles around her beret, revealing a deep, bubblegum pink face with a pointed, upward turned nose and middle-aged features around tired teal eyes.

“I am Soldat First-Class Spoiled Rich,” the woman said with a haughty yet somehow subdued tone, “I am in command of overseeing your cadet company alongside Sternritter Fleur De Lis and Sternritter Soarin. You will follow my commands carefully and without question. Your survival in the upcoming battle depends upon you listening to your betters and benefiting from our experience in the field. I’ll not have any of you doing anything stupidly foolish and getting yourselves or any of the rest of us killed, am I clearly understood?”

After just a moment of hesitant silence the cadets let out a chorus of “Yes ma’am!”, Twilight included. Spoiled Rich turned her gaze over the lines of cadets, and for a second Twilight thought the woman’s eyes stayed locked on her, but the moment passed and Spoiled Rich turned to one of the second-class soldats in line.

“Get them to their quarters. I don’t want anyone roaming, so they’re to stay in quarters until briefing at 1400, then they’re to return to quarters until lights out at 2100.”

The soldat saluted, “Yes ma’am! You heard the lady, get moving!”

As it turned out their quarters were not up top, but down below. One of the buildings was a large elevator leading down into chambers built beneath the surface, like some massive underground web of bunkers. Twilight suspected the underground facilities were at least as large as the fortress above, if not larger. Even as they were being moved down tightly packed hallways towards their quarters she caught sight of open hatchways that looked like they led into large hangar bays, likely to store the tanks and gunships she’d seen.

Eventually Twilight and her squad were assigned to a plain rectangular room filled with plain bunks and footlockers. As the soldat in charge of them told them to stay in quarters until they were summoned for the operations briefing, the soldat was gently pushed aside by a familiar face.

“Hey there kiddos,” said Soarin, giving the second-class soldat a wink, “Why don’t you go take a coffee break buddy? I got this.”

“But sir-”

“His Majesty’s orders,” Soarin said in a less casually friendly tone, “I’m to guard this particular squad of young ladies until told otherwise. Now scram.”

The soldat stiffened, gave off a salute, and left the Sternritter with Twilight and the rest of her squad. Each squad as nominally ten, and besides Twilight herself, Sugarcoat, Sour Sweet, Indigo Zap, Lemon Zest, and Sunny Flare there were four others, although Twilight was only familiar with Suri among them. The other three were girls as well, although not from Crystal Prep, near as Twilight could tell. From what she understood Crystal Prep was one of the primary schools for children of Quincy families, but there were several other such schools throughout the world, and these three were from one of those other schools. She didn’t know their names yet, but by the way two of them both shared nearly identical dark, blueish gray hair and lanky builds Twilight assumed they were sisters, one with dull purple skin darker than Twilight’s own, and the other with a lighter shade of sea-foam skin. The last girl in the group glared at the other two, keeping to one corner of the room, bearing rusty red skin and a darker such shade on her curly hair.

Soarin looked them all over and cleared his throat with a hint of embarrassment, “Sorry I got to stick around you young ladies, but no doubt you all understand why His Majesty wants me to keep an eye on things.”

Sugarcoat nodded curly, “You’re here in case someone tries to assassinate Twilight again.”

Suddenly one of the sisters, the purple skinned one, blurted out in an odd accent, “Holy molly, she’s that Twilight!? I thought she weren’t even gonna be goin’ on no deployment!”

The girl’s apparent sister kicked the other girl in the shin, “Quiet down Hacksaw! Ain’t you got no respect!? We’re n’ the presence of a’ Sternritter.”

“Ow! Whatcha kick me for Buzzsaw!? I was just sayin’ I’m surprise she’s here, on account o’ folk tryin’ ta kill her and all.”

With a snort the red headed girl in the corner let out a laugh, “Pffah, just like you dang Mccolts! Can’t keep yer gobs shut fer nothin’!”

Like they were one entity the two sisters spun on the red head, anger plastered on their faces as they said at the same time, “You shut yer mouth Cotton Barrel Hooffield or we’ll shut it for you!”

There were several groans from some of Twilight’s other squadmates, especially Sunny Flare who was rubbing a hand across her forehead as she closed her eyes in pained disgruntlement. “For the love of His Majesty why were we assigned members of... of those two families?”

Twilight just blinked, “What?”

Indigo Zap, who was closest to her, leaned in and whispered, “You’re looking at the products of two Quincy families that, uh... took the idea of ‘pure breeding’ a bit too seriously.”

The implications made Twilight’s mouth go dry as she said, “Are you serious?”

“Well, that's the rumor,” Indigo Zap said with a shudder, “Sad thing is, while the family members aren’t exactly what you’d call geniuses, they’re a powerful bunch. Big Daddy McColt and Ma Hooffield aren’t Sternritter, but they own the largest manufacturing facilities the Quincy operate. Those huge ass tanks and sleek VTOLs you saw up top are built by those families.”

As if to confirm this Cotton Barrel let out huff and spat at the two McColt sisters, “Don’t you go sassin’ me you ground poundin’ muckrakers! Yer tanks ain’t nothin’ but overweight pillbugs with crap guns an’ ain’t good fer nothin’ but target practice fer Hollow Ceros.”

Hacksaw all but blew steam out of her nostrils, taking a menacing step forward, “Oh like them flyin’ coffins you Hooffields nail together are so special! Them metal mosquitoes are just gonna get swatted by a few blind Gillians, while our tanks will be blastin’ Hollows ta smithereens!”

Before things get get any further Soarin appeared between the feuding girls with his hands held out, a pleasant smile on his face, “Now easy there ladies. Let’s save it for the Hollows, eh? Why, I’m sure such fine specimens of Quincy youth will both acquit your families well in the field, so no need for fighting among ourselves.”

Whatever feud existed between the three girls’ families, the presence of a Sternritter seemed to quench the flames of their ire for one another rapidly as all three glanced at each other, then at Soarin, before they mumbled apologies and went back to silently glaring at each other from across the room.

“That’s better. I think.” Soarin let out a sigh and turned back to the rest of them, eyes settling on Twilight, “Again, sorry you’ll need to put with me a bit longer. His Majesty really is worried someone might take another crack at you, so he wants me here as insurance.”

“If His Majesty is so worried then why is Twilight here at all?” asked Sugarcoat, “She’d be safer just about anywhere else, wouldn’t she?”

Twilight shook her head, “I talked about this with Sombra. As strange as it may sound, I might actually be safest here, where he can keep people like Soarin close by to watch me.”

“Makes sense to me,” said Lemon Zest, who’d laid out on her bed and was bouncing one leg crossed over her raised knee as she nodded her head to music only she could hear, “You’re, like, surrounded by loyal Quincy soldiers, and His Majesty can watch over you himself if he really wants to, here. Anywhere else and you’d be a sitting duck.”

“Yeah its soooooo nice that she’s all safe and cuddly here,” said Sour Sweet, rolling her eyes, “Only it puts all of us in the crosshairs too.”

“Can’t take the heat?” Indigo Zap said with a smirk, then almost immediately grimaced as she looked at the other girl, who still had the faintest of burn scars leftover from her close call with a Cero. “Uh, sorry...”

“I can take the heat just fine, thank you very much, Indigo. It’s just that if I’m going to die horribly I’d prefer it not be at the hands of my own freakin’ people! Sorry if the idea of some assassin strapping a bomb to our VTOL because little miss prodigy is on it with us doesn’t fill me with warm, fuzzy feelings of camaraderie!”

Twilight’s eyes sunk in apology towards the floor, “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to put anyone in danger.”

“It's not your fault and Sour Sweet’s just scared,” Sugarcoat said, and before Sour Sweet could get a rebuttal out Sugarcoat held up her hand and added, “We all are, Twilight included. Think about it, Sour Sweet, if you’re worried about getting caught in the crossfire, imagine how Twilight must feel being the one actually being targeted?”

The other girl sucked in a deep breath and let it out in a begrudging hiss, ‘Yeah, yeah I get it. But what are we supposed to do about it, huh!? I just can’t pretend like I’m alright walking next to a giant bullseye. What the hell are the Sternritter even doing about this!? Shouldn’t they be able to catch whoever's after Twilight?”

As if suddenly remembering there was a Sternritter in the room, who reported directly to Sombra, Sour Sweet’s face turned a few shades paler as she looked at Soarin. “Um, n-not that I’m criticizing the Sternritter or His Majesty-”

Sorain chuckled without mirth and shrugged, “Relax, I’m not offended. Quite frankly, cadet, you’re right. It's frustrating that our investigation has turned up nadda on the assassin’s identity. Whoever they were, they were being careful about leaving no evidence behind. One of the reasons I’m specifically assigned as cadet Sparkle’s guard is that if the assassin, or assassins, make another move I’m the best suited to countering and capturing them.”

“Wait,” said Sunny Flare, blinking in astonishment, “Are you saying His Majesty wants them to try again?”

“Beats me,” said Soarin, “I don’t pretend to know what’s going through His Majesty’s head. All I know is that if I was trying to catch the assassins then sticking next to the intended target is the ideal way for me to do it, so my assignment here makes perfect sense.”

One of the McColt sisters, Buzzsaw Twilight thought, cut in with a confused look, “I dun get it, why’d someone wanna off Twilight Sparkle here? What’d anyone get outta doin’ that?”

Cotton Barrel let out a grunt, “Could be somefolk see her gettin’ buddy buddy with the King an’ are thinkin’ that’s too much favor fer one family. If she got made Sternritter, that’d make fer five o’ the same family in the top o’ the Quincy pile. First time in history any family had that many Sternritter at once.”

“Pfft, ya can’t count fer a damn, Hooffield,” said Buzzsaw, “Only four in the Sparkle family would be Sternritter if Twilight got promoted.”

“An yer a’ straight idjit who’s fergettin that her brother’s gettin hitched wit The Lust. Wit her in the family that’s a bigger block o’ power than any other Quincy family’s ever had. Ain’t no other family be able to oppose the Sparkles fer influence, then, not even us Hooffields or you McColts.”

Accents aside Twilight was easily following the conversation and she rubbed her chin, “Which means someone who wouldn’t want my family gaining that much power might think it worth the risk to try and kill me, since I’m still relatively weak and vulnerable compared to any other member of my family.”

Cotton Barrel nodded sadly, “‘Fraid so. Ain’t envyin’ yer position, Sparkle, but I’ll say that unlike yer yellow bellied pal over there I ain’t gonna be scared o’ no assassins neither. They come gunnin’ fer ya, I’ll plant a’ boot upside their backsides faster n’ ya can say ‘spit on jam’.”

“Y-Yellow bellied?” Sour Sweet muttered under her breath, “I’ll show you ‘yellow bellied’, you inbred little trollop.”

“That’s enough,” said Soarin, “If you girls can’t play nice I’m going to be tempted to start with the spankings.”

Before anyone could respond to that particular comment there was a soft knock on the door, startling almost everyone in the room except for Soarin, who reacted by turning to the door and striding towards it as if he’d already been expecting a visitor. Given that Twilight remembered he’d insinuated his Schrift’s power involved sensory ability she imagined he’d sensed whoever was coming long before they knocked.

When he opened the door Twilight was surprised to see the familiar form of Cadence standing there. Her face was lacking the usual confidence that Twilight was used to seeing lighting the woman’s features and instead Cadence glanced towards Twilight with an unsettling amount of demureness.

“Sternritter Soarin, I was hoping to speak with cadet Sparkle, if I might borrow her for a little while?” Cadence said in a quiet tone.

Soarin took a deep breath, face stern, but in a way that suggested he wasn’t very comfortable with being stern. “You know I can’t let her out of my sight, or at least out of range of the Echo. What’s this about?”

“I just wanted to talk to her on a private matter. I understand you have your orders from His Majesty, and its okay if you want to follow us, as I only request you give us enough space to talk privately. Fifteen minutes, that’s all I ask,” Cadence said.

Soarin rubbed the back of his head and gained the look of a man experiencing a slight headache, and he turned a look towards Twilight, “Up to you.”

Twilight wasn’t sure what Cadence wanted to talk about. They’d hardly spoken a word with each other since the incident during Twilight’s attempt to manifest a personal bow. Certainly Cadence had been there during the dinner she’d had with her family, but she’d been quiet during most of that and they’d barely exchanged two sentences with one another.

She’s trying to mend fences, some practical part of Twilight’s mind told her, Would it cost you anything to hear her out?

Truthfully she was tired, so very tired of the separation she’d been keeping with her family since joining the Quincy. The mistrust she felt might have been justified, but it wasn’t serving her on any practical level, and Twilight missed the sense of warmth she’d once felt towards them. Maybe it was time to give a chance to rebuilding bridges.

“We can talk, Cadence, as long as Soarin is okay with it,” said Twilight, to which Cadence let out a held breath and nodded gratefully.

“Thank you, Twilight.”

“Alright then,” said Soarin, “Lead the way, but I’ll be sticking close by.”

----------

Soarin may have said he was sticking close by, and Twilight didn’t doubt his words, but she was impressed with how easily he vanished from sight to allow her and Cadence a semblance of privacy while they walked. Twilight kept silent as she followed her once upon a time babysitter, soon to be sister in law, and one of the few people she considered a friend before she’d met Sunset and the girls. Cadence led her into one of the large interior bays that Twilight had seen in passing on the way to her quarters. It was even larger than she thought, now that she was walking through it.

The bay had slightly slanted walls that were covered in mechanical scaffolds that housed dozens of the Hooffield built gunships. Twilight imagined there was another similar bay that was filled with the McColt tanks. The scale of the fortress and the weaponry on display boggled her mind, but she reminded herself that the Quincy controlled a great deal of real world wealth, and likely funding a place like this was only a minor dent in their finances. Still, she was curious...

“Why haven’t I seen or even heard about this kind of equipment in the Quincy arsenal?” she asked, mostly to break the ice with Cadence.

Cadence found a set of metal supply crates and seemed to choose it as the spot to stop and converse. It was situated just beneath one of the holding scaffolds on the wall, and Twilight could see tech crews performing maintenance on one of the gunships about a dozen yards above, but they were out of earshot so she and Cadence could talk undisturbed.

“The VTOLs and tanks are exclusive to the Hueco Mundo expeditionary battalion,” Cadence said, leaning against one of the supply crates, “In this realm’s open deserts we need swift, armed transport for our soldats, and armored companies are used for hunting herds of Hollows that soldats are unsuited to destroy due to their numbers. Remember, the Hollows always outnumber us, especially in their home realm. The tanks and VTOLs equalize that to a degree. We simply don’t use them in the living world because they’d be much more difficult to conceal from the public eye, and Hollow activity is usually in smaller numbers we can handle. Cadets aren’t trained on either machine because they’re specialized units limited to Hueco Mundo, so there’s no reason you would have heard of them until now.”

“I see...” Twilight said, then trailed off as she looked at Cadence with an awkward scuff of her boots on the floor. “So... what did you want to talk about?”

A tremor of uncertainty crept back across Cadence's face and she crossed her arms beneath her chest, tapping her fingers on one arm in a bout of nervous energy before speaking in a hasty voice, “I’m sorry, Twilight. I’m sorry for what I did to you. And I don’t just mean using the Lust on you, I mean all of it. Keeping secrets from you all these years, bugging you with a tracer without your knowledge, treating you like a child instead of a young woman capable of making her own choices and protecting herself. I’m just... sorry.”

It was a lot more direction than Twilight had been expecting. She’d figured there’d be at least several minutes of uncomfortable dancing around the subject before they got to this part. She swallowed and took her glasses off, giving them a nervous cleaning with the hem of her uniform jacket before putting them back on.

“Oh.”

She stood there silent as seconds ticked by, trying to get her mind and heart in order. Slowly she began to speak with carefully weighed words.

“Cadence, I need you to understand why I’m angry. It's not because you lied to me my whole life. I’m pretty much over that by now. It's not because of the tracer. Again, kind of over it. I even understand why you did those things, now. But what you did with the Lust wasn’t just stupidly dangerous, it showed a complete lack of trust in me. I joined the Quincy to try and understand things better, including you and my family. But even with me making that leap of faith, you still couldn’t put any faith in me? You felt you had to influence my mind without my consent, just to get me to manifest a bow? That... hurt, Cadence. How are we supposed to be sisters-in-law if you can’t trust me, and I can’t trust you?”

Much like Twilight it took Cadence a few stretched out moments of silence, likely considering her words as carefully as Twilight had. She could see doubt on Cadence’s face, and not a small dose of fear and stress as well. Cadence had often times been the person Twilight had turned to in times of her own distress, confiding her own fears and doubts when needed. She wasn’t used to seeing the same vulnerabilities in Cadence. In some ways Twilight realized that ever since she’d learned of her family’s connection to the Quincy she’d separated them in her mind from ‘normal’ people who got scared or worried about things. She’d started thinking of them as these immortal, powerful titans of mysterious power and secrets beyond mortal ken, whom she had to play the role of the neonate with while proving herself their equal.

She’d forgotten they were still human, and that they could make mistakes just like she could. It was written all over Cadence's face that she knew she’d screwed up, and it was tearing her up inside. Cadence wasn’t Sternritter L, the Lust, right now. She wasn’t some monstrously powerful warrior in a war between humanity and demonic spirits. She was just... Cadence. And she was scared of losing Twilight.

“You’re right, Twilight. About all of what you just said. I’ve... I’ve had the Lust ever since I was eighteen, one of the youngest to ever be granted the title of Sternritter at the time. Using it sometimes feels like breathing, and I don’t think about it like I should. I didn’t think about how what I did might hurt you. There’s no excuse, and I just don’t want... I don’t want us going into this battle without it being said how sorry I am for what I did. All I wanted was to protect you. I’m scared of what might happen in a battle that’s going to be this chaotic, especially because I won’t be there for you in case you need me. I wanted you to be able to defend yourself properly, and that made me forget you deserved my trust.”

At Cadence's miserable expression, Twilight went over and leaned against the cool metal of the supply crate next to the older woman. Slowly the two found themselves sitting down next to each other, knees pulled up, in a manner that reminded Twilight of many times she’d sat next to Cadence during long babysitting nights where the two talked long into the evening about whatever was bothering the in life.

Things might never go back to those simpler days, but Twilight realized she really didn’t want to lose the people who’d been a part of her life. Cadence, her brother and parents, they were still dear to her, despite all that had happened.

“I probably could have given you a chance to say all this sooner, before we were in the middle of-” she gestured at the giant bay of military vehicles, “-all of this. I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, and I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty scared. So I’m glad you came, and I’m sorry too, for just... not letting you say anything until now.”

“Does that mean...?”

“Apology accepted,” Twilight managed a small smile, even as she looked at Cadence with serious eyes, “Just never do anything like that again. Let’s just trust each other form now on.”

Cadence returned the smile, and then glanced down at Twilight’s arm, which was still clad in the smooth metal plates of the Hexenfaust. “Speaking of trust, how are things working so far with your, um... mental guest?”

That seemed to be the polite way of saying ‘split personality’. The topic of the Hexenfaust, and of course Midnight Sparkle, had come up with her family during the dinner they’d shared. One of the reasons it had been a quiet meal after a while, given neither of her parents had approved of Twilight’s move to forge a pact with her alter ego. But since Sombra approved of it, there was little either Twilight Velvet or Night Light could say on the matter. Shining Armor was more cautiously optimistic, pointing out during the dinner that it was a sign of progress and that Twilight’s mission to understand and research magic was an achievable goal, but the dinner had remained an awkward affair.

Looking at the metal and cloth glove on her left hand, Twilight gained a musing expression. “She’s been cooperative so far, as much as I imagine a magical and unstable mental construct can be. I’m remaining cautious in regards to just how much I can trust her, but as long as she continues to cause no trouble I’m willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. That being said, I’m still nervous. There’s a lot of unknowns concerning Midnight, and I don’t like dealing with unknowns. On the other hand this may be my best chance to effectively study the magic within me, and hence understand magic in general. Once I learn more about magic who knows what kind of amazing discoveries I’ll uncover and the kind of good I’ll be able to do for not only the Quincy, but everyone! As dangers as this is, it could be the first step to making real progress in ending the war.”

Cadence’s smile was a warm one, and took Twilight back to simpler days.

“If there’s one thing that always remains adorable about you, Twilight, it's how excited you get about learning new things. Just promise me you’ll be extremely careful. I know His Majesty has put his stamp of approval on this project of yours, and that you’ll be primarily leading a team to study magic once this battle is over, but I want you to always be cautious. Speaking of which, have you decided who will be part of your research team yet?”

Twilight had been thinking about that, when she had time to think about it amid everything else that had been happening. Hugging her arms around her knees she said, “I was hoping Sombra might approve of me setting up my lab in... in Canterlot City.”

A look of understanding passed Cadence’s kind eyes, “You want to bring your friends into it, don’t you?”

“I was hoping to. I don’t know if Sunset or the others will agree, and honestly Sunset is really the only one among them who has a scientific mind, even if she’s more the ‘field research’ type than I am. To be fair, I also want some of my new friends involved too, like Sugarcoat. They helped me with making the Hexenfaust after all, and they’re all smart girls. Do... do you think Sombra would approve?”

“He might,” Cadence said after a moment to think about it, “It’d raise a few eyebrows around here if we had a research team cooperating with a Soul Reaper, but then again Sunset Shimmer isn’t exactly like other Soul Reapers.” Cadence paused again, frowning slightly, but more with concern than disapproval, “Just be prepared for complications, Twilight. You haven’t seen your Canterlot friends for awhile, and things may have changed by the time you get the chance to.”

“Why do you say that? Do you know something I don’t?” Twilight asked, also frowning, “No more secrets between us, remember?”

Cadence held up her hands, “No secrets, and I haven’t heard anything concrete. All I know is that there have been reports from our spy network, such as it is, that there’s been... an incident of some kind in the Soul Society. We don’t know what, exactly, but the reports indicated some kind of battle has taken place, but we have no idea who was involved. That said, given the situation we left behind in Canterlot I wouldn’t be surprised if your friends had some kind of altercation with the Soul Reapers.”

That worried Twilight more than even what might happen in the upcoming battle or with Midnight Sparkle, and she felt herself shudder slight, “I hope they’re okay.”

“I think they’ll be fine. From what I’ve seen of them they’re all very capable young ladies, much like yourself. All I’m saying is we can’t be sure what the situation will be once you get a chance to return to Canterlot City, so just keep a flexible mind for your future plans. For now, just focus on surviving tomorrow.”

Taking a deep breath, Twilight looked out across the vehicle bay, eyes roving over the sight of tech crews loading missiles into one of the gunships, and she licked her dry lips. “You’ve been doing this a lot longer than I have. How bad is it going to be, Cadence?”

A look of deep worry shaded Cadence’s face, “I won’t lie, it’s going to be bad. I can’t remember the last time we’ve mobilized this much of our forces to attack Las Noches directly. Even if the larger battle is just a feint to distract attention from my hunt for the Espada that facilitated the ambush on the Academy, that doesn’t change that you and the rest will be facing nearly the full might of the Hollow hordes. Even with you cadets being kept in the back there’s a strong chance you’ll still see action, given how many Hollows the Espada can throw at us. All I can say is stick close to your fellow cadets and stay aware of our surroundings. And one more thing...”

Cadence raised her hand and held it towards Twilight, palm up. Twilight blinked as she felt Cadence’s spiritual energy shift, and focus on the point of her index finger. She saw a small flicker of pale blue reishi light as spirit particles shifted and took shape into a nearly invisible dark speck on Cadence’s finger tip. At first Twilight didn’t recognize it, but after a moment of focusing her own senses on the miniature spirit construct, she realized what it was.

“That’s the tracer you placed on me!” she exclaimed, then blinked in confusion, “Why are you showing me this?”

Cadence’s expression turned deathly serious, “I want you to memorize how this tracer is made and commit it to memory. The battle will be dangerous, and also incredibly chaotic. If there’s any moment the person targeting you will strike again, it will be during the battle. Since I can’t be there to protect you this is the next best thing I can do. If you’re attacked again, try to get this tracer on the assassin.”

Twilight adjusted her glasses with interest and peered more closely at the tracer, focusing her spiritual senses to a laser point on the small construct of reishi. It was very simple in design, and Twilight grasped its construction with only half a minute of careful study, after which she nodded at Cadence, “I think I’ve got it.” Just to be sure she raised her own hand and focused on her finger, carefully drawing out reishi from herself and from a few stray spirit particles in the air around her. Soon enough she had a replica of the tracer on Cadence’s finger gracing her own index finger.

Cadence let out a small laugh, “You really are amazing Twilight. Just be careful. If the assassin strikes again prioritize protecting yourself, but if an opportunity to put the tracer on them presents itself...”

“I will, and thank you Cadence, for trusting me.”

“I should have done it long ago,” Cadence said, and the two girls shared a quick but heartfelt hug.

The moment was interrupted by a light, derisive laugh.

“Aren’t you two a cute pair?” said Fleur De Lis, who’d silently come around the side of the supply crates, looking at them with a quirked eyebrow and faintly amused smile. “Sharing a heart to heart before the eve of battle are we?”

Twilight felt a prickling shiver at the woman’s look, remembering all too keenly how close Fleur had come to killing her friends, and destroying a good chunk of her hometown. She could clearly see in her mind’s eye the sight of Clover with a reishi arrow through her chest, fired by Fleur. Looking at the white, elbow length gloves that Fleur wore Twilight wondered if her arm still bore any burn scars from Sunset’s Zanpaktou. As if reading Twilight’s mind Fleur gave her an unpleasant and thin smile, but before she could say anything Cadence rose to her feet with a flat look on her face.

“What do you want, Fleur De Lis?”

“Want?” the other Sternritter held a hand to her chest, “I don’t want anything. I was just passing by and saw you two having a chit chat and thought I’d pay a friendly visit. After all, I’ll be one of the ones guarding little Twilight here, so why shouldn’t I say a friendly...” her eyes turned to Twilight, “Hello.”

“H-hello,” Twilight said, and stood alongside Cadence, and swallowing her unease and summoning up her courage she managed to meet Fleur’s gaze with a steady one of her own, “I hope everything goes well tomorrow. On behalf of all the cadets let me thank you for helping guard us.”

She hadn’t actually meant the comment to nettle the woman but Fleur’s eyes twitched at Twilight’s words, “Oh, think nothing of it. His Majesty’s will is my pleasure to enact. Even if it does keep me from participating in the lion’s share of the fighting, where I’d do the most damage. If we’re lucky perhaps we’ll get enough stray Hollows coming our way that I can get some decent exercise and you cadets can put in some target practice.”

“Do remember your primary goal will be to protect the cadets, not rack up kills, Fleur,” said Cadence firmly, and Fleur merely chuckled.

“Killing Hollows will protect them. Besides somebody around here has to show these impressionable youths how its done.”

“I think they’ve got the basic idea, Fleur De Lis,” said Soarin, appearing just as smoothly and swiftly as he’d first vanished, yet showing now that he’d never been far off during Twilight and Cadence’s conversation. He came up next to Fleur with a casual and personable air, which seemed to just irritate the woman further as he went on to say, “Why I’m willing to bet before long our young prodigy here might start threatening your kill record.”

“We’ll have to see, won’t we?” said Fleur, smiling politely but not without a hint of venom in her eyes. “She’s got potential, I won’t deny that. But she’s got a long way to go before she can match a Sternritter. Perhaps if she watches us closely during the battle she’ll learn something.”

“You more than me, I’m sure,” Soarin said, again with an air of pure casualness, but there was a hint of steel in his eyes, “We’ll both be on guard duty, so let’s do our best and make sure all our cadets get back home. His Majesty would likely be very displeased if we failed in that duty.”

“Yes, I imagine he would be,” Fleur De Lis said in a granite tone, then flashed one last smile towards Twilight, “See you on the battlefield, cadet.”

As she strode away, Twilight gulped, whispering, “I get the impression she doesn’t like me.”

“She’s just got a stick up the rear end because she’s stuck guarding you cadets instead of getting to cut loose on the front lines,” said Soarin with a shrug, “There’s nothing that woman loves more than killing Hollows, except maybe killing Soul Reapers.”

Twilight couldn’t help but ask, “Why?”

Soarin and Cadence shared a look with one another, a poignant look that clearly communicated more than Twilight was able to guess at. Eventually Cadence said, “Many Quincy have suffered at the hands of either Hollows or Soul Reapers, Twilight. Fleur is no different in that regard. Some of us just channel our emotions differently. She channels them in a very...um, direct manner.”

“Yeah, don’t let her get to you. Or follow her example. Fighting to destroy the enemy is one thing, that’s just a soldier’s duty, but in Fleur's case she’s taken it to an unhealthy level,” Soarin said, then glanced at Cadence, “So, you and Twilight manage to patch things up?”

Cadence eyed him with a level stare, “You were listening in the whole time, so you already know, don’t you?”

“Eeeeheheh, yeeeeeah, I guess I was. Can’t help it if I’ve got good hearing. Echo, you know?” Soarin said with a small laugh, “Still, glad you two are on better terms now. Bad luck to go into battle while bearing a grudge.”

Twilight nodded, “That’s true. I suppose I should get back to my squad now. Hopefully they haven’t started bickering again.”

“Heh, good idea. With Hooffield and McColt cadets in the same squad you’ll be lucky to get through tomorrow without that bunch spending half the battle aiming at each other instead of the Hollows,” said Soarin, rolling his eyes, and Cadence tilted her head.

“Hooffields and McColts in the same squad? That’s a tad odd, isn’t it?”

Soarin shrugged, “Not really. Spitfire likes to mix squads with cadets who get along with ones that don’t, hoping to get the cadets to work out their differences. Even for a serious fight like this one its not weird for Spitfire to stick to her training methods.”

“You may be right...” Cadence said with a thoughtful and curious voice.

Twilight glanced at Cadence, “Is something wrong?”

“Probably not. Still, Twilight, be watchful of your new squadmates during the battle. Just in case.”

----------

When Ember arrived back at Adagio’s home she was met by Dumbbell, who near as Ember could tell had taken defacto charge of the three males that now seemed so eager to please their Vasto Lorde mistress. Ember couldn’t help but admire how thoroughly Adagio had those three wrapped around her finger now, especially considering that their first meeting had involved them trying to kill her.

“Lady Adagio thanks you for coming and says I should show you to the lounge,” said Dumbbell, trying for a formal bow but mostly looking utterly awkward. Ember looked at him with one part baffled amusement and one part irritation.

“Dude, skip the formal crap and just take me to her.”

“Uhhhh, right, this way,” he said, and quickly walked off down the large hallway. They didn’t go far, passing only a few doors before reaching one that led into what Ember knew was the room Adagio had the boys set up as a general living and hang out area. Ember had left the other day before they were done setting it up, so now was her first time seeing the whole room fully furnished.

The square chamber had a lowered area in the center with stone steps leading into it, creating essentially a circle in the middle of the room that was lower than the rest. This space was lavished with a dark blue carpet and a trio of very plush looking leather couches surrounding a black coffee table. On the left of the room a pool table was set up alongside a few dart boards, with a few standing tables in the corner, one of which had a stereo system set on it. On the right side of the room a longer, thin table with several stools were set up, with shelves of drinks and a large refrigerator. Filling the back portion of the room was another cough, flanked by two recliners, where a rather sizable flat screen tv was mounted on the wall above a entertainment center from which several game systems were set up.

The room was lit with a few installed ceiling fan/lights, and Ember saw wires, held up with duct tape, criss crossing the ceiling and walls, where the wires coiled through several holes bored in the walls. She knew there was another chamber a room or two down the hallway that was basically the generator room, which supplied all the power for this place. As long as Dumbbell and his pals kept stealing gasoline from gas stations in the living world this place would have all the electricity it needed.

Adagio was waiting for Ember at the bar, and Ember saw two glasses set out with a bottle of what looked like expensive wine. She sighed, wondering, and rather suspecting, what this was all about. She didn’t want to do this, but if Adagio was going to force it...

“Alright, I’m here. You,” she jabbed a thumb at Dumbbell, “Scram.”

It kind of irritated her that Dumbbell looked to Adagio first, and waited for the Vasto Lorde to nod, before doing another awkward bow and leaving. Ember looked at Adagio and stiffly walked over, not sitting on one of the bar stools and instead just leaning on the table.

“Okay, I’m here.”

“Yes, you are. Thanks for coming,” Adagio said, holding up a glass, “Drink?”

“What’s this about, Adagio? I don’t mind dropping by, but what’s with the formality?” Ember was trying to keep her emotions out of her voice and simply sound chill, because she wanted to be chill. She didn’t like having all these conflicting emotions bubbling inside her and it was aggravating beyond belief that she knew Adagio was going to start poking into that mire, because why else would Adagio call her over this early and be busting out the wine?

In a way Ember appreciated that Adagio dropped any pretense the moment she got a good look at Ember’s face and set the glass and wine aside, as if it was never there. “Alright, let’s get it done then. We need to talk, and we need to do it now. We’ve both got a lot hanging between us and the last thing either of us need is any of it dropping on our heads when we need to keep those same heads clear. So... you heard my song. You saw what it did. You know what it means.”

Ember surprised herself with just how angry even hearing what she already knew being openly admitted by Adagio and she felt her teeth grind together in her mouth as her deep red eyes flashed, “Oh, do I? Do I really!? If I know so much already why don’t you just sing at me again, huh!? Why not erase my memory of this too, or can’t you do that perfectly every time? Can’t control someone so easily when they already know what you can do or something?”

Adagio, to her credit, didn’t look away from Ember’s blazing stare, and placed her hands to lean on the table. “It is easier to affect a mind that isn’t expecting to be manipulated. The song isn’t more powerful or anything, its just easier to affect a mind that doesn’t have its defenses up. Part of what made affecting those Adjuchas so simple.”

“And me,” Ember snarled, and after a second Adagio nodded with a heavy look in her eyes.

“Yes, and you.”

The two of them stared at each other, Ember all but drying to bore her way through Adagio’s skull with her eyes. Eventually Ember let out a sound somewhere between a sigh and a broken steam pipe, and asked the question that had been at the core of her boiling anger, “...Why?”

“Not an easy question to answer, that one,” Adagio admitted.

“Try. Try hard,” Ember said, one hand gripping the table and pressing hard enough to bend the metal lip. Adagio flinched slightly, then took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“The simplest way I can put it is that I felt I had more to gain by risking the manipulation than I had to lose if I was caught,” Adagio said plainly, not sounding proud of herself, but laying it out bluntly as well.

“You would have been killed if you were caught!” Ember said just as bluntly, then added with a quieter but no less heated, “It might still.”

“I’m aware of that. You want an explanation, or do you want to go get your father in on this?”

Ember’s eyes flashed, “Do you think I’d need him?”

“If you’re serious about it, Ember, I promise you I won’t go down quickly or quietly... but you came here, willingly, so I’m going to take the chance and assume you’re also willing to hear me out, otherwise why are we even having this conversation?” Adagio asked, doing well to keep any fear out of her voice. Again Ember was reminded of why she liked and admired Adagio, even despite the manipulations. Adagio was strong, and even when faced with threats that’d make other Hollows quail in fear, she just stood firm and faced forward.

Ember let go of the table and finally took a seat, and in response Adagio did the same.

“Alright,” Ember said, “I’m listening.”

At that moment Adagio took a few seconds to compose herself, and from what Ember could tell the other Hollow was sorting through things internally, because her voice held an introspective note as she began to talk.

“On the surface I was just trying to avoid killing humans. Before you say anything, yeah, I know, they’re the enemy. Believe it or not, I wasn’t a saint before I became a Hollow. Manipulating others to get what I wanted was par for the course for a very long time, and that hasn’t changed much for me now. I hurt others, and if I’m brutally honest with myself there’s a strong likelihood my actions in the distant past probably led to others getting killed. I just never got the blood on my hands directly. Not until... until Grogar put me under his thumb. The first person I ever killed myself was because of him. I’ve mostly gotten used to eating other Hollows, but that was the first time I ate a soul...”

Adagio’s eyes narrowed, both in acidic anger, and a faint pain, “Its hypocritical of me, I know, but I hate being controlled by others. I can try to claim some half-assed moral motivation for looking to avoid killing Quincy, but I think a large part of it was that I saw myself as giving Grogar the middle finger. Dong something of my own choice rather than being what he was trying to make me.”

“And you didn’t tell me any of that, because...?” Ember asked.

“Ember, I barely knew you at the time. You’d agreed to help me, sure, but you made it clear back then you were mostly motivated by the idea of pissing Grogar off. Do you really think I could have just up and asked you if we could avoid killing Quincy when that was the whole point of us going on that raid in the first place? Would you have honestly agreed to go along with it?”

Ember was forced to quietly admit, “No.”

“So that being the case, it was either use my song, or do what I didn’t want to do. At the time it seemed worth it.”

“And what about making me fight Garble?” Ember asked, eyes narrowing, “You didn’t have to kill any Quincy in that case. You could have just hung back. Sure he’d have butchered those Quincy, but you wouldn’t have had to do it, so why did you make me fight him?”

Adagio glanced away for a second, “It's complicated. There was a girl there. Purple skin, glasses. Do you remember?”

“Very, very vaguely. Your song really screws with memory, so it's all pretty blurry, but yeah I think I remember someone like that.”

“Her name is Twilight Sparkle. I don’t really know her, per se. She’s not a friend. Barely an acquaintance,” Adagio said, her tail twitching around behind her in a lashing pattern of agitation, “But she’s friends with someone who... who I owed a favor to. Multiple someones. These people saved the lives of my sisters, back when I wasn’t a Hollow. Twilight wasn’t there, but that doesn’t matter. I might not have owed her, but I owed Sunset and those other girls for saving Sonata and Aria. So when I saw Garble and his boys about to kill Twilight and those other Quincy, I did the only thing I could see to do to stop it.”

“You mean you had me do the only thing that could be done to stop it,” Ember said, still heatedly, but not as much as before. Oh she was still mad, but a part of her did understand what Adagio was trying to say. Even if the other part of her didn’t want to understand.

“Yes,” Adagio said, not bothering to mince words on that point, “I used you. There wasn’t anyone else I could have used, because I doubt anyone else could have stopped Garble.”

“You could have used your song on him, instead of me.”

“Possibly, but there were too many ways that could have gone wrong. One of his buddies could have resisted and blasted me before the song took affect. One of the Quincy might have killed me while I was focused on Garble. I might have lost control of you while trying to control them. The bottom line was that I already had you under control, so changing the tune of the song was the fastest, simplest way to achieve my goal.”

“And that’s what mattered, right? Achieving your goal.”

Adagio’s calm demeanor broke a little, a bit of anger crawling into her own voice, “Ember what do you want from me? I never once claimed to be anything other than focused on achieving my own ends. Around here that’s hardly a sin, is it?”

“No, dammit! One of the things I admire about you is that you’re always striving to obtain what you want, even with all the odds in the world stacked against you! Its just that... that...ARRRG!”

Ember kicked the stool aside and with red puffed cheeks she started to stalk around until she kicked the wall, shaking the area and causing a small crack to form. Adagio looked at her, not saying anything as Ember tried to get words out past clenched teeth.

“I’m just so... upset, okay!? I don’t like dealing with this touchy feely crap and if you were just another random Hollow I wouldn’t have to feel this way because manipulations and power plays are all part of the damn game and I wouldn’t be taking it so personally! But because it was you I’m so... so mad because...”

“Because...?” Adagio sounded encouraging, if anything.

Ember hung her head down, eyes closed as the anger subsided just enough for the pain underneath to be laid plain. “Because I trusted you. Because I like you, for crying out loud! You’ve seen my dad’s horde. Most of them are rowdy, rough, crude bastards and I love them for it, but none of them are really what I could call friends. None of them are close to me, besides dad. You’re... you’re the first, Adagio, the first person who I felt like ‘hey I dig this chick, I want to hang out with her more’. Sure I might have started helping you just because I wanted to stick it to Grogar, but I kept helping you, even when I started to suspect what you did to me, because we’re friends. Or I thought we were...”

She was left breathing heavily after that emotional tirade, feeling tired and drained, and utterly off balance. Ember just wasn’t used to dealing with these kind of feelings. And she’d been keeping them bolted up inside entirely too much.

Adagio was silent for a few moments, then stood up as well and faced Ember, her eyes earnest, and finally showing a sense of apology in them. “Friendship is dangerous, Ember. Here in Hueco Mundo it’s probably the most precarious thing of all. Trust, real trust, means exposing your back and hoping the other person won’t stick a knife in there.”

Adagio’s voice quieted, “And that’s what I did to you. I’m sorry. I’m not asking you to forgive and forget. I respect you too much for that. Instead I’m going to ask that you give me a chance to earn your trust again. Because crazy as this may sound, I feel the same way Ember. Your a solid person to have around, and believe it or not, I trust you as much as you did me. After all you could have left me to deal with Gilda and Greta alone, but you didn’t, did you?”

Ember shook her head, “No, I didn’t. Maybe I was just sticking it to Gilda, same as with Grogar, hmm?”

“Well, that’s fine by me. That’s how our relationship started, so it can start from there again, can’t it?”

Ember let out a groaning sigh and slapped a hand to her face, rubbing it, “Grraah, you’re so aggravating sometimes, Adagio! Can’t you just say ‘I’m sorry’ and leave it at that!? For Tirek’s sake if I have to go through all the crap we went through all over again just to feel like I can trust you I’d rather go face the Quincy army alone, thanks!”

Adagio laughed, although it was small and kind of awkward, and it occurred to Ember that Adagio was probably no matter at dealing with these kind of emotions than she was.

“Let’s try to avoid that, shall we? The Quincy might not survive an emotional Ember on a rampage, and I’d like to still score some points with your father.”

Ember choked on a laugh, then just giggled, some of it tinged with relieved hysteria, “Bloody hell, Adagio, how did you sisters put up with you while you were alive?”

“Honestly? They kind of didn’t. We gave each other crap constantly.”

“Shocking.”

“Shut up.”

As if the pair had run out of steam the pair went quiet, then Adagio gestured at the couches, and with a grateful smile Ember went over and all but through herself onto one of the thick, impossibly comfortable couches. Adagio set herself down with somewhat more grace, and the two just enjoyed a minute of companionable silence for a moment, letting the dust settle between them.

“So... we’re cool now?” Ember asked.

“Isn’t that what I should be asking you? You’re the one who had every right to be angry with me.”

“Ugh, Adagio I’m... I’m just no good at this emotional stuff. I’m still a bit mad, but I’m sooooo just wanting to be over this crap now. We’re cool, okay? As long as you don’t use your freaky song on me ever again, we’re cool. Damn, now I got to worry about what to do with Garble!”

“Leave him to me, Ember,” Adagio said, but Ember held up a clawed finger.

“Not a chance. We’re doing this together from now on. Part of the deal for me forgiving you is that you bring me in on everything from now on. You got a plan for something, you tell me. You plan to pull some scheme, you tell me. You got an idea for how to handle Garble. Tell. Me. Understood?”

Adagio paused for a moment, then nodded, smiling, “Deal. Admittedly I haven’t formed an exact plan for Garble, but I know his type. He’s not going to sit on his hands for too long, and quite frankly I’m fine with him making the first move. I’ll leave it up to you whether we keep him alive or not.”

“Geeze, not making this easy are you?”

“You want in on the scheming, you get to make some of the touch choices, Ember. Fair, no?”

“Right. Anything else you want to tell me, while we’re having this chat?”

Just then a very odd look came over Adagio’s face. Granted it was hard to tell with the Hollow mask, but it was amazing how much unease could be shown with just the eyes. Adagio’s voice was equally hesitant as she said, “Well... I was visited by Chrysalis this morning-”

“WHAT!?”

“-and as it turns out, in order to avoid any unpleasantness with her, she has a little job for me.”

Author's Note:

I know, right Ember? Ew, feelings. Poor gal is not suited for such conversations. Meanwhile Twilight is patching things up with Cadence, but her squads got a few more colorful characters in it. I'm not sure why but I find it oddly appropriate and amusing to have the Hooffileds and McColts be with the Quincy, if only to balance out the Quincy's otherwise high-society air. We also see the Quincy do use some modern technology, converted to their purposes. The vehicles wouldn't be much use in the living world, where most fights with Hollows take place near or in cities, but in Hueco Mundo the vehicles can be quite useful for the Quincy cause. This is a bit of lore exclusive to this universe, since in the anime the Quincy never really used much technology (unless you count that crazy cyborg Sternritter. Seriously, what was up with that guy?)

Anywhos, hope you folks are enjoying the story, and thank you all for reading. As usual feel free to leave any comments, questions, or critiques you wish, they're all highly appreciated. 'Till next time.

Comments

[TheArcticWolf]

Oh dear, quincy attack.

[Thought Prism]

Ok, having the Hooffields and McColts be part of the Quincy is a fantastic idea, especially if things turn out the way I suspect they will.

Also, what sort of job could Chrysalis have planned for Adagio, I wonder? Perhaps... Starlight asked her to find more allies?

[Follower of Chaos]

Must resist suspecting Spoiled just 'cause she's a bitch.

Two heartwarming make up scenes. Though why does the Cadence one give me the horrible impression something terrible is going to happen to Cadence? It's not as if she's engaged to Shining Armor and Chrysalis is in the same building Cadence is going to try and infiltrate, or that some alternate version of the Canterlot Wedding events happening is a distinct possibility given this set up. Wait, OH SHIT.

With the above theory in mind I believe Chrysalis has asked Adagio to get rid of Cadence's target (I forget his name, sue me) for her which Adagio and Ember will have to do together. This will allow Chrysalis to engage Cadence directly and overpower her as thoroughly as Queen Chrysalis did Princess Cadence. She can then infiltrate the Vadenreich disguised as Cadence.

Whatever happens I'm hyped, can't wait for the next update.

[lordelliott]

Ugh, Spoiled Rich! She's worse than the show's villains. Villains can be reformed. That bitch made me feel bad for her brat daughter. I guess she could repent, but still.

One thing that has worried me for Adagio is that her plans are getting vocalized. Now she's going to tell Ember everything, and Grogar is listening.

[Noctis Prism]

Oh man I'm hyped now! The big Gamble's are fully on the roll and now it's time to see who got snake eyes!

[the other sans]

then Adagio was going to met it head on with every scrap of charm
so instead of my being her being seen as a challenge
but Twilight suspected the soldat was a nervous as the cadets he was herding along
‘Yeah, yeah I get it. But what are
Filling the back portion of the room was another cough, flanked by two recliners
Dong something of my own choice rather than being
Your a solid person to have around

1. Meet.
2. Here.
3. As.
4. Meant to be a opening quotation mark.
5. Couch.
6. Doing.
7. You're.

The vehicles wouldn't be much use in the living world, where most fights with Hollows take place near or in cities, but in Hueco Mundo the vehicles can be quite useful for the Quincy cause.

Oh definitely if mostly for the fact that they're squarely in enemy territory and the only things they have to worry about is hitting themselves.

Nice to see all the tension for both parties being sorted out in one way or another but now I'm quite curious as to what errand Chrysalis is making Adagio do... I'm inkling towards something that involves Twilight/Sunset and Co directly because unlike most others she has a better chance of knowing who she was connected to while alive. Granted a fight with King Fisher in his Resurrección form (and Grogar in the background during that fight) would undoubtedly raise a few heads. Though how many heard about that fight is a good question, how many who even bothered to find out the details of it even more.

[Feather Book]

I'm glad Ember and Adagio, and Twilight and Cadance got their issues out of the way. Just in time too.

And what could Chrysalis want from Adagio? Nothing good, I'm sure.

I really like how you handled both situations. They where really well done.

As always, fantastic work.

[Riku006]

Okay, I’m now not so sure on who the assassin is. Between Fleur, the Hooffields and McColts kids and the slim possibility of it being a certain principal, I just don’t know anymore.
Also, this might be from reading too many stories by 24th Pegasus, but that emotional scene between Twilight and Cadence is raising warning flags.

[Cynical_Optimist]

Predictions based off this chapter:
1) Cadence will die or something of equivalently negative.
2) Fluer is the assassin. Not for any political motivation, simply because Twilight is friends with a Soul Reaper (specifically the one who humiliated her) and sees that as an unforgivable sin.
3) Chrysalis asked Adagio to kill Grogor during the Quincy invasion. With Grogor dying in the ensuing chaos, the blame could easily be placed on the Quincy, and Chrysalis has an alibi to avoid Tirek's wrath. This way Chrysalis can get rid of Grogor, a rival/threat/thorn in her side/what have you that she wants to get rid of Scott-free and Adagio gets her revenge, a win-win all around. (It'll be cool if Adagio becomes an arrancar during or because of the battle. Doubt it though, she just became a Vasto Lorde less than 48 hours ago.)

[Kirbyfan123]

Will you ever add wallflower and the shadowbolts.

[RanmaChaos]

This was an amazing chapter. Well done.

[thatguyvex]

8881005
Well, the Shadowbolts are already in the story. As for Wallflower, I haven't made any decisions on her yet. If I can think of a role for her that feels natural and not forced, I may go for it, but I'm not setting anything in stone yet.

[Zog]

We see a bit more of the negative side of the Quincies this chapter with the jerkish and bloodthirsty members all together with Fluer, Stinkin, the Hooffileds and McColts. In a way the Soul Reapers and Quincies aren't so different with their internal strife, both want to put up a strong, united front against the Hollows, but their own internal issues stop that from happening either through feuding families, differences in ideals, or dangerous people having power.

Though Soul Society seems to be becoming more united with Platinum jumping ship and Sunset and friends having a positive effect on Posey and Blueblood, on top of Scorpan's character development.

I also really liked the worldbuilding with the spirittech military weapons and the Soldat ranks. It really does a lot to make the Vandenreich feel more real than the Nazi horde we got in canon.

For the traitor I've begun to wonder if it's really a mole from Tirek. The Hollow King has a trap planned which Sombra's antcipating so the two have an 'I know you know I know' thing going on. Tirek might be hands off but he could be playing dumb and be running multiple plans. Maybe he subverted a Quincy somehow or one of Chrysalis' children can mimic a Quincy or something else.

This theory comes from how Candence wonders if Spitfire really put the Hoofifield and McColt together. Maybe one of Tirek's objectives is still to kill off the next generation of the Quincy while damaging their production capabilities. A mole messing up the logistics could go a long way to insure a accident happens.

For Adagio we can discern more about her drives; she has fully embraced being an Anti-Hero to survive and make a place for herself in Hueco Mundo and is perfectly fine with that and doing bad things as long as she doesn't go super evil or engage in evil for evils sake. I also like how she views friendship it is a powerful force and thematic writing technique but when you use it to fix every problem in the world it becomes a cop out to writing a plot and loses all meaning especially when you get heavy handed with it and saving Hollow kind with friendship would be pretty cheap.

Anyways, not to be overtly negative about that but I feel that this shapes Adagio's views in that she sees the value of friendship now but doesn't consider it the end to be all like Equestria does which I hope she keeps. It makes her a compelling protagonist without being needlessly edgy.

I also think it has changed how Adagio views Power as well. Previously Adagio was you typical greedy My Little Pony villain driven by powerlust, but far more cunning than your average fare but still had no real idea what she'd use her power for other than 'take over the world'. Now Adagio reminds me of a rising Empress. She still seeks power but now she tempers her power and desire for more of it with purpose for the power and prudence, and treats her followers with courtesy and dignity fostering true loyalty as a ruler instead of being the alpha bitch. It's quite the evolution.

[lordelliott]

8881364
Well, it's canon that no one noticed her over 4 movies and several shorts, so she's the kind of character you might throw in late anyway.

[dusk flame]

8881364

Here's my concept for Wallflower:

Quincy spy on Celestia and Luna (Canterlot High as a whole, really.), Steinritter U, The Unseen.

Reports directly to King Sombra and has orders to never compromise her identity, but she was recalled to join the war and her new orders are to assist in locating the Hollow that does the super Gargantas.

Her ability is similar to the silence from Dr. Who, as well as spiritual masking that makes her appear to be completely mundane regardless of what she's doing.

[MrAskAPirate]

Sombra and his f#$^&@g stairs,

[Marauder15]

Things are heating up in the kitchen

[Yutah123]

Well, got the talk with Ember out of the way! It went much better than expected, and I'm really glad they could keep a semblance of their budding friendship.

[MightyAlpaca]

8888299
Stairs are necessary for dramatic and theatric purposes; lifts don’t really cut it